1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to refuse collection vehicles, and more particularly to a retro-fit device for allowing a front load refuse collection vehicle to dump refuse from rear loading containers as well as front loading containers.
2. Description of Related Art
There are generally two types of refuse containers used in commercial refuse collection: rear load containers having a trunnion or bar portion located on the top of the container, and front load containers having a set of pockets located on the sides of the container.
Typically, the rear load containers can only be picked up and emptied using a rear load refuse collection vehicle. The rear load collection vehicle has a rear portion with a clamping arm to engage the trunnion on the rear load container. A cable is used to hoist the rear load container off the ground, pivoting the rear load container about the trunnion to empty the container's contents into the rear of the collection vehicle. Other rear load collection vehicles utilize a hydraulically actuated kick bar to engage a lower part of the container thereby lifting and pivoting the container about the trunnion to empty the rear load container.
The front load containers can generally only be picked up and emptied using a front load refuse collection vehicle. The front end collection vehicle has a front portion with a hydraulically actuated lifting apparatus. The lifting apparatus includes a pair of forks spaced apart from one another which engage the pockets located on the sides of the front load container. To empty a front load container, the forks on the front load collection vehicle are driven through the pockets of the front load container. The lifting apparatus is actuated to lift and turn the front load container upside down thereby emptying the contents of the container into the collection vehicle via an opening on the top of the vehicle.
Since the front and rear load containers can generally only be emptied with the front and rear load collection vehicles, respectively, refuse collection companies utilize both front load and rear load collection vehicles when servicing their customers. Utilizing both types of collections vehicles, however, often causes inefficiencies in servicing particular collection routes. For instance, a first business may use a rear load container and a second business located nearby may use a front load container. Therefore, the collection company would need to send a rear load collection vehicle to the first business and a front load collection vehicle to the second business, even though both businesses are close in proximity. Replacing the rear load containers with front load containers or modifying the containers to allow them to be picked up by either a front load or rear load collection vehicle is inefficient and expensive given the large number of containers that would need to be replaced or modified.